Home Oklahoma City Monday Nov 12 2012

Singler fouled out in 16 minutes and still got more PT than a performing Drummond? That's pretty bad.

In 13 min of playing time, Drummond was 1 rebound away from leading the Pistons. He shot 2-3, had 2 steals, an assist, and a blocked shot. I don't get the limited minutes at all.

Like Frank, I have an agenda that involves losing, so I'm not going to complain too much. We really need a #1 draft pick when you think about it. We don't need to tank to get it either, just need to keep on sitting the talent.

Jerebko looks like the leak as he was -10 on the floor. 1 of 6 shooting and got blocked 3 times.

Even when the Pistons were leading by double digits in this one, I never felt like we were going to win.

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Superstars make a difference. You have to have one or two when the game gets tight and the defense cranks it up a notch. Even in 2004, the Pistons didn't really have a superstar, but you could count on Billups to create something down the stretch to put the game in the "W" column. OKC has a couple of guys that can do that. We don't have any yet.

Closest I've sat in the Palace for any professional event. Really cheap tickets thanks to StubHub. The Palace does not rock like it used to, kind of depressing. A lot of sitting.

This was the game I realized I'm not a Pistons fan. At least not this team. I was completely indifferent to their runs and was disappointed when Westbrook and Durant weren't making plays. I was amused at Knight's attempts to guard Westbrook in the post. Got completely bullied. You take the good with the bad with Russ, but his aggressiveness got the Thunder plenty of shots at the rim and put the Pistons into early foul trouble in the 4th.

The first 5 minutes of the 4th quarter were just brutal for the Pistons. Knight passing around the perimeter to just end in an isolation possession by Tayshaun or Jerebko that ended exactly how one would expect. Bad shots at the end of the clock. Throwing into the post to Monroe had some success, but he missed some close ones and the Thunder quickly caught on to the one successful offensive play in Detroit's bag. Maxiell impressed with his defense at the rim and hustle on offense. Drummond looked active, though he sometimes releases way too early on the high pick and roll. He would show then get the ballhandler trapped in the corner because he made no contact.

Late in the game, OKC ran the exact same high screen and roll with Russ and KD to get Durant the ball at the top of the key about 3 straight times. Points every single time.

I'd be more interested if it seemed like all of our guys were getting a shot at it. Even though I think Villanueva stinks, I'd prefer to see him stink for a few games before he's relegated to deep bench status. I'd like to see TRGuy in action. We're a poor shooting team right now, so let's see if Daye is back in form like he was 2 years ago. Drummond is obvious, but I'm sure he'll get heavier minutes throughout the year.

How about the Kardasians?

Pre season was much more interesting to me because it seemed like we were trying to find effective combinations of guys. Now, it seems like we're locked into a lineup that is for sure not good enough. It doesn't get much more boring than watching a shortened rotation lose over and over.

I've had more fun in prior seasons watching other games around the NBA than I have this year as well. The emergence of OKC was exciting and they were easy to root for. The Bulls looked like they were going to be a force with some bad boy defensive style. But the Heat's conquest dampened some of this and Rose's injury killed the mojo for the Bulls. The league seems a little stale to me right now as a fan of traditional Detroit bruiser style.

I get the feeling that if we didn't have a double digit lead in the 2nd half, we could've pulled this one off. It seemed like Frank left his starters in for too long, and the players went away from doing what was working and instead trying to hold the lead.

OKC did their first big run of the game when Drummond subbed out. They immediately went on a 7-0 run. He really has a big presence in the paint.

the " plan" is a load of crap. Why can other rookies play 20-35 minutes a game and hit the rookie wall and be fine? why do you think playing a kid giving him some minutes and having him do well, then yanking him and watching the team lose is gonna help his developement? If you were training a dog? the dog would think it was supposed to play to lose. I hate the whole we're gonna bring him along slow routine...its a load of crap. What ever happened to letting his play decide his minutes? if hes playing well, reward him with extended time. If hes having a bad day cut the minutes back. We're not talking about algebra here there is not a specific answer for every situation. The role of the head coach is to assess the situation and adapt. so far Larry has the first 3 letters right.

I get the feeling that if we didn't have a double digit lead in the 2nd half, we could've pulled this one off. It seemed like Frank left his starters in for too long, and the players went away from doing what was working and instead trying to hold the lead.

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I bet if they had had a triple digit lead they probably would have won. I'm kind of an optimist, though.

Good to get to the end of the game and be frustrated that we lost a close one, rather than resigning to a game that never looked winnable. Was happy with the defensive effort (if not the defence) for the most part of the game. Even on offence, there seemed to be some good off the ball moment and flow in parts. Am not expecting much from an away loss game in Philly now though.

Find it strange that we haven't seen English at all the last two games. By all reports pre-season he is a great team man and he has done nothing wrong on the court, so can't imagine what he has done not to get minutes. Especially when we have to rely on Will.i.am (love this name for him) at backup PG.

I am beginning to lean towards the Stuckey off the bench idea, although it comes with problems at this stage with an undersized rookie backcourt in Knight/English. As mentioned earlier though, include Singler in the guard rotation too and remove Will.i.am completely.

Disappointed not to see the DruMon combination this game when Dru was playing well in the second, but also hard to deny Max's hustle this game. Don't understand Frank's moves sometime though - we should never ever see a Max/JJ combination.

Another good point made earlier that Frank realised JJ wasn't a PF last season, so don't know why he continues to play him there. Has JJ played any SF minutes this season? Can only assume good play by Singler and Kravtsov not in the rotation is keeping him at the PF.

I have no problem with this. Wins are meaningless this season anyways. This is the first time that I remember the Pistons investing in a rookie like this. Might spur some loyalty down the road.

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My only issue with this is if it goes the other way - when he is playing well, or as well as others, and gets pulled for a mistake that he sees others making while they are left in. There was one such moment this game I think where he came off and knocked something off the table into Blaha when he was walking off.

I wouldn't fault Dummond for getting upset if he gets benched to continue to watch the JJ/Monroe front court play horrible D and get no boards when he knows he can help.